Newspaper round-up – March 18

Newspaper round-up – March 18



“There was a time when cricketers in the eighties and nineties rubbed shoulders with their favourite Bollywood stars at the Sharjah Cricket stadium. These days you're more likely to see these exchanges in the Indian Premier League,” wrote the Gulf News. It added, “Cricket fans are also keen to watch Shah Rukh Khan's expressions after his team's performance. IPL is a hit because it blends action, emotion, music and dance to provide wholesome entertainment.”

“IPL surges on multiple delivery platforms,” reported the Hindustan Times. “Giving details of internet hits, the daily said, “YouTube had eight million views for the first match while the official online site had 15 million exclusive page views on the first day.… it appears that the format enjoys a global audience”. It added, “According to Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi, various mobile operators estimated the SMS traffic during the match to be well over 12 million SMS.”

"As many as 479,000 tuned in to ITV in the UK, despite it being a Friday afternoon. YouTube's IPL channel saw more than eight million views in the first four days. Wednesday night's Delhi-Mumbai clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla was sold out, and most other venues have seen nearly full houses despite the oppressive summer heat arriving early,” reported The Guardian, UK. “Soon, even the advertisers will realise that they have a product that doesn't need to be given the hard sell every 10 seconds. … You're talking about an audience larger than the population of the UK. And all the best players want to be here”, it quoted one of the IMG staff as saying.

“Reading a bowler’s mind helps me excel,” wrote Jacques Kallis in The Times of India. “It might have taken me a little longer than planned to adjust my game to suit the T20 format, but I always believed I could be successful and I was always excited by the prospect of playing 20-over cricket when it was first introduced,” he added.

Steve Waugh, in his column for The Times of India, wrote, “It is clear that all teams have taken on board certain ideas from the first two IPLs and seem more attuned to the demands of Twenty20 cricket.” On picking a winner for IPL 2010, he wrote, “It will be hard to pick a winner at this stage, but I would go with the champions being a toss-up between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils. And between them, I would give the Chennai boys an edge. MS is a good captain and also enjoys this format.”

“Talented Bengal batsman Abhishek Jhunjhunwala feels that playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League will be an ideal platform which will help him to get back the “touch” that deserted him during the first-class and one-day matches this season,” The Telegraph reported. “Shane is so methodical in his approach when he interacts with the players. Personally, I have been immensely benefited from whatever he has told me”, Jhunjhunwala was quoted as saying by the daily.

“Anyone who knows me gets completely thrown off when I am anywhere near a cricket match, a conversation about a cricket match, utter the odd cricket term, or generally show any interest in our country’s current national obsession... 25 years down the line and I find myself shrieking insanely, passionately, like a man with dementia or turrets for the success of Shah Rukh’s team,” the Bombay Times quoted noted Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar as saying.